Some embodiments described herein relate generally to network routing, and more particularly to routing policies and filters for improved Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) network routing.
Many modern networks include hardware devices and/or software (executing in hardware) configured to transfer data frames according to one or both of the Ethernet and Fibre Channel networking standards. To allow for interoperability between Ethernet and Fibre Channel resources, these networks often employ a third network protocol known as Fibre Chanel over Ethernet (“FCoE”). By encapsulating Fibre Channel frames within an FCoE frame, a network device such as an FCoE-to-Fibre Channel gateway (“FCoE gateway”) can route and/or switch Fibre Channel frames from one Fibre Chanel device to another over an Ethernet network.
FCoE gateways thus are typically capable of: (1) relaying, to a Fibre Channel device (such as a switch), a Fibre Channel frame extracted from within an FCoE frame, and (2) encapsulating a received Fibre Channel frame within an FCoE frame that can be forwarded, via an Ethernet network, to another Fibre Channel device (such as a Fibre Channel peripheral processing device). As part of its routing responsibilities, many FCoE gateways adhere to one or more routing policies, rules or filters that dictate specific routing behavior. Many filters dictate, for example, whether an FCoE gateway should deliver, drop, or re-route a received frame based on the frame's type, format, and/or contents. Some routing policies can dictate other aspects of data-routing behavior, such as a specified delay time, use of a specified communication port for certain data types, etc.
While such filters and/or routing policies allow for more intelligent routing, storage space for these rules is sometimes limited due to scale and cost constraints. More particularly, when an FCoE gateway assigns a distinct switching policy, guideline or rule for each pairing of a virtual port of a peripheral device and an outbound port of the FCoE gateway (to enable data transmission from the virtual port to a switch), the presence of a switching policy, guideline or rule for each virtual port/outbound port pair can result in an inefficient use of storage space.
Thus, a need exists for methods and apparatus to minimize the number of routing policies required to route and/or switch FCoE frames from peripheral processing devices to Fibre Channel switches, and thereby reduce storage space concerns. A need further exists for methods and apparatus to receive an FCoE frame including a destination Media Access Control (MAC) address associated with peripheral device and an outbound port and forward the FCoE frame (and/or a Fibre Channel frame encapsulated therein) to a Fibre Channel switch via the outbound port, thereby reducing the number of routing policies necessary to route and/or switch FCoE frames (and/or the contents thereof) from a given peripheral processing device to a Fibre Channel switch. A need further exists for methods and apparatus to define a mapping between a virtual Fibre Channel N port and an outbound (egress) port instantiated at an FCoE gateway.